ELO Darkness (2018)

Overview

ELO Darkness is a complete customizable card game in which two players (or four in the team vs. team mode) fight against each other in an epic MOBA-inspired arena.

Each player controls a 40-card deck representing a team of five heroes (divided into five different classes). Players can delve into the deck-building aspect of the game by customizing their own Team and play style. Heroes can be picked through an initial draft mode in which players alternate selecting among 30 different characters.

The unique aspect of the game is the interaction with the board, which adds an interesting tactical aspect as well as a strong thematic feeling to the concept of the card duel. No dice are involved in the game. Randomness is limited to the draw and is mitigated by the Farming and Backing phases in which players can manage their hand and retreat from their position on the map in order to draw more cards from their deck.

Hero cards can be used for multiple purposes: they can be played during combat or they can be discarded in order to gain Experience points and gold used to buy and upgrade powerful items during the game.

Combat takes place every turn on each Lane and is determined by a simultaneous action selection mechanism and a back-and-forth phase in which players take actions like playing Gank cards or activating combos and special abilities.

In addition, to increase tension during the match, there are also objectives (monster cards) that player can conquer through a simultaneous resource bidding occurring during specific turns.

The final goal of the game is to invade the opponent's base on the map, destroying the enemy towers and breaking through one of the Lanes on the board.